Orgeron takes charge of Trojans, for now

LOS ANGELES – This stuff is usually handled in December, when a team has, at most, a low-profile bowl game remaining. Firing a college football coach in September, for on-field woes, is a jaw-dropping rarity.

USC must now fight on, for at least the next eight games, with interim coach Ed Orgeron. The Trojans will either respond to Orgeron’s high-energy, higher-volume leadership, or they’ll give up on the season. After this week’s bye, the Trojans face a character-revealing game against a solid Arizona team on Oct. 10.

Then what? Athletic Director Pat Haden said Orgeron will be considered as a full-time replacement for Lane Kiffin, who was fired Sunday, but it’s almost certain that Haden will hire a coach from outside the program.

“We’re going to try to find the best coach we could possibly find for USC,’’ Haden said.

There’s no hurry. It’s doubtful that Haden would be able to hire a current college coach until the start of December, or a current NFL coach until the start of January, but that doesn’t stop Haden from thinking.

After he hired basketball coach Andy Enfield, Haden revealed that he had been in contact (for more than a year) with a company that identifies coaching candidates. Asked, Sunday, if he had already been in touch with such a firm regarding Kiffin’s successor, Haden sidestepped the question.

“All of (the) athletic directors who oversee various sports, that is part of their job, to think of who their next coach is,’’ Haden said. “You could lose a coach in a variety of ways. I’ve been thinking about this since the day I got the job, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t thinking about that.’’

There won’t be a shortage of rumored candidates. The list has already started, with names from the NFL (Jack Del Rio, Jeff Fisher) and college (James Franklin, Pat Fitzgerald, Chris Petersen, Kevin Sumlin, Steve Sarkisian) popping up within hours of Kiffin’s dismissal.

Or, as he did with Enfield, will Haden go with a lesser-known coach with a potentially high upside? Kiffin’s eventual replacement will inherit a talented roster, but one limited (for one more year) by NCAA sanctions.

“I really don’t want to talk about the search now,’’ Haden said. “It’s not fair to our team. I think it’s disrespectful for our football team. We have some really great kids. It’s about them right now. We’ll do that (coaching search), we have to do that, we understand, but it’s in our future, not right now.’’

The present belongs to Orgeron, 48, a longtime USC defensive assistant coach initially hired by Paul Hackett in 1998. Orgeron has spent parts of 11 seasons with USC, broken up in part by a three-year run (2005-07) as head coach at Mississippi, where he had a 10-25 record before being fired.

Perhaps in contrast to the more introverted Kiffin, Orgeron said he would attempt to bring more energy to the USC sideline and would high-five players.

“I really feel we have very strong leadership on this football team,’’ Orgeron said, “and I’m excited to be their coach for the next eight games and we’ll see where it takes us.’’